Called one of the most important archaeological finds ever made in a report by CNN, the Dead Sea Scrolls will soon be made available for study online. Thanks to a partnership between Google and the Israel Antiquities Authority, who will use digital imaging technology to upload the scrolls, the project will allow the pieces of the scroll to be viewed and studied without exposure to harmful elements such as light and air. In fact, says project head Pnina Shor in The Jerusalem Post, the infrared imaging will allow users to see parts of the scrolls that were previously unviewable; in other words, the online view will be superior to studying the actual scroll itself.
There are 30,000 fragments and 900 separate manuscripts to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Google told CNN that the $3.5 million project is not for profit and is non-exclusive. The IAA hopes to make the first images available in the spring of 2011.
